SAN FRANCISCO -- Though he frequently balked at answering questions from an opposing attorney, Google (GOOG) CEO Larry Page testified Wednesday that his company built the popular Android mobile operating system without purchasing a license to use Java software technology -- because, he said, the company didn't need one.

"It would have saved us a lot of time and trouble to use their technology," he said of Java's creators at Sun Microsystems. But he added, "we ended up making a big investment in our own technology, and it works really well."

Page's statement came after he was laboriously grilled for more than an hour in federal court by an attorney for tech rival Oracle (ORCL), which bought Sun Microsystems and is now suing Google in a closely watched case that turns on the value of popular software and the ownership of widely used programming tools.

Oracle is seeking nearly $1 billion in damages for what it says are violations of Java copyrights and patents that Oracle acquired when it bought Sun in 2010. Google says it didn't use any proprietary elements of Java technology.

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Page was chastised more than once Wednesday by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, after the 39-year-old Google co-founder avoided direct answers or quibbled with the wording of numerous questions posed by Oracle attorney David Boies.

Page also insisted he didn't remember or wasn't familiar with the details of documents or negotiations that Boies was asking about -- including emails in which Google engineers and executives seemed to be advising that they needed a license to use Java in their development of the Android mobile system.

One memo from Google executive Andy Rubin, sent to Page in 2005, proposed to "pay Sun for the license" to use Java and obtain Sun's approval of Android.

The memo referred to a negotiation for the right to use other Java programming tools that Sun had kept as proprietary technology, Page told jurors.

Under more friendly questioning by Google attorney Robert Van Nest, Page added that Google "tried long and hard" to negotiate a partnership with Sun. When those talks broke down, he said, Google decided to proceed with the Android project using only the Java programming language, which was in the public domain.

"When we weren't able to reach terms on a partnership, we went down our own path," Page said.

Google attorneys had previously shown jurors a video recording in which Oracle CEO Larry Ellison acknowledged that "nobody owns the Java language" and that it is available for anyone to use.

Oracle attorneys have argued that Google used other, proprietary elements of Java because the company was in a hurry to build Android and secure a beachhead in the growing mobile computing business.

But when Boies asked if Android is "critical" to Google's success, Page responded, "I believe Android is important; I wouldn't say it's critical."

Boies also showed Page a 2010 email from Google engineer Tim Lindholm to Rubin, in which Lindholm said his team had evaluated technical alternatives to using Java for Android "and think they all suck." The email adds, "we conclude that we need to negotiate a license for Java under the terms we need."

Google attorneys have said the memo was written after Oracle threatened to file its lawsuit in 2010, but it was not a legal opinion. Page testified he didn't recall the memo and only vaguely knows Lindholm as a Google employee.

Earlier, when Boies asked Page if Google has a policy against copying other companies' software, the CEO said he wasn't aware of specific policies but added, "I think we do a lot to respect IP," or intellectual property.

Page may be called back later in the trial, which is expected to take eight or more weeks, Alsup said. Ellison testified Tuesday.

Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022 or follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey.